1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a connector structure which is used in conjunction with a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and/or a bus bar. In particular, the present invention relates to a connector structure in which contact pieces of terminals within a first connector component are protected and connected to a second connector component holding the FPC and/or bus bar without exposing the contact pieces of the terminals to damage before connecting the first and second connector components. Once connected, the contact pieces of the terminals are exposed for connection to the FPC and/or bus bar. The present invention also relates to a method for assembling and connecting first and second electrical connector components in which contact pieces of terminals are protected in a retracted position and pressure-welded or insulation displacement type terminals can be inserted into the first connector component before connecting the wires to the terminals.
2. Description of Related Art
An FPC connector is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,636 to Masuda et al. The connector for an FPC 45 generally comprises of a female connector 26 and a terminal protection type connector 35, shown in FIG. 7. Because the connector 35 includes externally exposed elastic contacts 40, it is possible that the elastic contacts 40 can be damaged or deformed by contacting a foreign object or the like before connecting with the FPC 45. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, a terminal protecting member 5 is provided on the outer periphery of a housing 2 for protecting elastic contacts 24. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the terminal protective member 5 slides to expose the elastic contacts 24 as the connector is inserted into an opening 26. As a result, the elastic contacts 24 and a terminal 31 a can be electrically connected with one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,061 discloses an insulation displacement-type terminal in which wires 40 are pressure-welded into terminals 38 within a housing. However, only single level connectors are possible with this arrangement, although all wires can be inserted simultaneously into the respective terminals.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-24222 discloses a two level connector structure in which elastic contacts 7b are provided at both left and right surfaces of a common housing 6. The terminals 7 are held in place within the housing 6 using flexible lances 8. The elastic contacts 7b are retracted into the housing 6 before the connector 5 is connected to the second connector 2. The elastic contacts 7b are pushed forward via the lance 8 by a projection 10 which is provided on the connector 2. As a result, the elastic contacts 7b contact an FPC 3. Only one terminal at a time can be crimped and/or inserted into the housing.
However, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,230,636 and 5,575,061 only provide for one level terminals, while the connector structure of Japanese publication 2-24222 requires connection of the wires 11 to the terminals 7 before the terminals are inserted into the housing 6. Moreover, Japanese publication 2-24222 uses crimp type terminals in which the ends of wires 11 are stripped and are crimped on a wire barrel of the terminal 7 while an insulation barrel is crimped to the insulation part of the wires 11. Due to the limited access of the terminals within the housing, it is not possible to connect or crimp the wires onto the terminals after the terminals are inserted into the housing. Moreover, crimping of the exposed portion of the wire 11 requires a force that would cause damage to the connector component or housing if the wires are assembled to the terminals while the terminals are in the housing.